How YOU Can Be the Change

To “Be the Change” means more than just donating money to a rescue organization. It’s more than just volunteering. Of course, donating and volunteering are important and you should do them. But let me tell you a story about something that happened in my human’s life a few years ago. It was a little incident — and it wasn’t.

It was Memorial Day. She forgets the exact year — 2005, maybe? She and her boyfriend were at somebody’s pool and barbeque party. She wasn’t having a great time, even though she got dressed up in her coolest clothes. In fact, she was kind of bored. Then the host’s cousin showed up and said, “There’s a cat wandering around. It looks like it’s hurt pretty bad.”

My human jumped up immediately and rushed out to the street to look for the cat. She couldn’t find it. “It went behind that house,” said the cousin, pointing up the hill. A flash of calico fur told her that he was right.

She went to the house and knocked on the door. There was no answer. So she did the only logical thing — she went around the back way into the backyard, trespassing in search of the cat. She found it walking around the patio, with one of its back legs wounded so badly that it was nearly hanging off. The wound was bloody and scary looking. The cat hissed at her. But it didn’t run off, even though it had been getting around pretty well on its three good legs.

Some people from the party were standing at the foot of the hill where the house was. My human came out and said, “I need a big towel” in a voice that demanded action. Somebody fetched one, and my human took it back to the cat and talked to it softly. The cat allowed my human to get closer, and then to pet it. Finally, she was able to bundle it in the towel, and she carried it down the hill. As far as she was concerned, the party was over, and she and her boyfriend headed for the emergency vet.

Surprisingly, the cat stayed in my human’s arms the whole time they sat in the waiting room and didn’t struggle at all. When the vet examined it, he said it would be very costly to fix the leg. Fortunately, my human’s boyfriend worked at a veterinary clinic and the vet said it would be okay for the cat to rest quietly in a carrier until my human’s boyfriend could take her in the next day. So that’s what they did.

Even though they brought the cat home for the night, I never got to meet her, which is just as well because later on, they discovered she was FIV-positive. The head vet at the clinic where my human’s boyfriend works was able to save the cat’s leg. Judging from the damage, he thought it was probably a dog or coyote attack. The party host’s wife put up flyers all over the neighborhood, but nobody claimed the cat, so the clinic put her up for adoption. Eventually a very well to do pair of women adopted her. They didn’t care that she was FIV-positive because they were still able to give her a good life. The funny thing is they named her Sparkle, even though they didn’t know anything about my human, or about me. The woman who brings the cat in for regular check ups told the people at the clinic that she is the best cat they’ve ever had.

Here is a photo of the “other” Sparkle, when she was still recovering from her injury:

Why am I telling you this story? Because my human was the change in this cat’s life. Who knows what would have happened if my human hadn’t bothered helping? Or if she had been afraid to get her cool clothes bloody, or thought that ugly leg wound was too gross to deal with? But my human didn’t care about any of that. She just saw a cat that needed help, immediately, and she did what she needed to do.

See, you never know when you will be needed to be the change in an animal’s life, and it doesn’t always happen at the rescue place where you volunteer, and it isn’t always about giving money to a group that is helping to save animals from a hurricane or an earthquake. Yes, the majority of you reading this come together to be the change in the larger scheme of things, and even the not-so-large scheme of things, like helping local rescue organizations such as Pets Without Parents, the focus of today’s blogathon (scroll down to the FirstGiving badge on the right to donate). But you must also be ready when the unexpected happens and you are faced with being the change for an animal in need that just happens to cross your path. That is my challenge to you! It may seem like such a tiny effort to help one creature when so many thousands of them are suffering. But it means all the world to that one you are helping.

What a great story about the other Sparkle!! Kudos to your human for being the change in Sparkle’s life!

You’re right…there are many ways to “Be the Change.” Our mom rescued Zoey…and was the change in Zoey’s life…from an outdoor semi-feral who didn’t know where her next meal would come from to a pampered indoor cat living the life of luxury! Even though Zoey presents our mom with challenges (because she doesn’t get along with me and Wally), Zoey’s life is 100% better than what it was before our mom rescued her.

What a wonderful story, Sparkle! You’re absolutely right that there are so many ways to make a difference for kitties around the world. When I was a teenager, I had the wonderful opportunity to rehabilitate a cat that had been abused and terrified. I did it all through instinct, and although it took a few weeks, eventually Maddy (the cat) came to sit on my lap. From that day on, we were inseparable, the two of us. About a year and a half later, Maddy stopped eating and lost a lot of weight. My mother took her to the vet and found out the poor creature was full of cancer. We never had a clue before she began acting sick. My mother had her put to sleep, and although I cried as I buried her, I was grateful that I could give this gorgeous, shiny, soulful black cat several months of love and kindness.

That is a terrific story. I know just how you feel. Our mom saved all of our lives when no one else would feed us or take care of us. It is so rewarding to make a change in an animal’s life. We are so glad to hear that the other Sparkle got a wonderful home. There is a great big smile on our Mom’s face. Have a great day.

What a wonderful story, and thanks for telling us about your loving and compassionate human!
Not all of us are able to give financially, but we can still “be the change” by helping animals in need. All of my pets ever have been rescues or strays or on the verge of being “put to sleep”.

if no one had seen the little cat hobble into the neighboring yard she probably would have died there everything fell into place perfectly..lets do what we can if everyone gave just 5 dollars when they heard from an animal charity thats doing their best it would add up and help the animals theres somany in need,,,

That is a wonderful story of the other Sparkle. Your human did something to truly make a change in that kitty’s life. A year ago tomorrow our mommy was in Texas in a thunderstorm complete with lightening when they came up on a dog in the middle of the road. She made Daddy pull over and she jumped out of the car and got the dog before it got hit by a car and she called the vet’s number on the tag to find out where the dog lived. They got the address and put the dog back in a fenced yard. She was drenched, her clothes were ruined by the mud and she smelled like wet dog but she didn’t care, she knows she saved that dog’s life cause that road was curvy and busy and no one even slowed down while they were on the side with the dog. If we all did our part one animal at a time, the world would be a much better place!